Karyn Loree-Spacek: business manager - Kapuskasing. (2002 Winner).

Staying on top of trends in the marketplace can go a long way in sustaining the growth of a business, and taking a business to new heights. Ask Karyn Loree-Spacek about her experience, and she would be the first to attest to that fact.

Loree-Spacek, who is the manager of Kap Data and Systems Ltd., was instrumental in integrating a Web design component to the family-owned business - a move that further enhanced the services of the company.

Local Web designer Camille Tovee walked into the store to buy a scanner one day, "and I said 'I need you!"' Loree-Spacek chuckles. "It was one more service that we could establish to offer our client base. All three (service components) work together in many situations, especially where municipalities are concerned."

Loree-Spacek, who, in addition to holding a managerial position, is a Xerox sales representative for the company and a recipient of sales performance awards for four consecutive years. She says her job goes hand in hand with her community activities.

"It's been with Xerox that I've had the opportunity to travel across our territory in the North (Cochrane, Hearst, Moosonee, Moose Factory), and this is where I've had the opportunity to meet and work with businesses and organizations in our region."

The Xerox agency is one arm of family-owned Kap Data and Systems Ltd., which also includes a municipal software design business and award-winning Web design services.

Loree-Spacek moved back to Kapuskasing in 1996 after working and studying in Toronto and Australia.

"I really missed what you could do here, and I missed the community feeling."

Her decision to enter the family business allowed her father to focus on software development, while she helped grow the company. Shortly after her return, her uncle invited her to join the chamber of commerce and her father suggested she volunteer with the Grand North legal clinic. Public service has long been part of her family's history.

"My grandfather always told us if you're going to live in the community, and especially if you're going to do business in the community, you'd better participate in the community," Loree-Spacek says.

Loree-Spacek, has been a member of the Kapuskasing town council since 2000, and is past co-president of the local chamber of commerce. During her two-year term as co-president of the Kapuskasing and District Chamber of Commerce, she spearheaded a drive to get the town a place marker as a tourist attraction, and initiated an annual gala to honour model citizens.

Donna Todd, president of the chamber of commerce, says Loree-Spacek changed the vision of the chamber and "really rejuvenated it."

"(Loree-Spacek) has awesome, innovative ideas that can benefit a lot of people, and she is always trying to build Kapuskasing into a better place for everybody to live," Todd says.

While heading the chamber of commerce, she initiated a project to get the town a mascot, which has become a focal point for tourists entering into the town, and has tripled the number of visitations by tourists to the chamber office, Todd points out.

"Kapuskasing was one of the few northern towns that didn't have a place marker," Todd explains. Loree-Spacek organized the effort to put up a bear statue, created by Kapuskasing sculptor Normand Fortin, she adds. The statue, located outside the chamber of commerce office, makes the chamber's little log building much more visible, Todd says.

"The bear really significantly improved the number of tourist stops," Todd says. The chamber has noted a 300 per cent increase in the number of people coming into the chamber in one year, and an increasing number of tourists are picking up information on local businesses and attractions.

Based on an idea that stemmed from watching the Juno Awards, Loree-Spacek also convinced area businesses to support an annual community awards ceremony - The Chamber of Commerce Awards of Excellence. The event is a "fancy, fun, gala evening," Loree-Spacek explains. "It's a way of saying "Thank you" to those who do a lot of good work behind the scenes." Loree-Spacek lives by the motto that anything is possible when groups work together for a common goal.

"You can't get anything done alone," says Loree-Spacek. "You have to work as a team, and when you do work as a team you can do anything. If you think you can do it, you probably can."

She also sits on the library board and is chair of the public works portfolio and waste management board. Her role on the library board, and the work involved in expanding and upgrading the town's library, is most enjoyable and challenging, she notes. She envisions the renovated facility as something that will be beneficial to every age and income level. She says she is impressed and inspired by the unstinting contributions made by members of her community.

"I would never take credit alone for any of (the community work that has been achieved). We work as committees and teams. Everything I've done has been possible because of the great people around me."

She acknowledges that it takes time and energy to be involved in community initiatives and credits her husband and her parents for being supportive of her community work.

"I think one of the hardest things that women have to figure out is finding that balance between community, career, family and time for yourself - I couldn't find it in Toronto, but I sure found it in the North."

Loree-Spacek, who is the mother of a five-year-old boy, is expecting her second child shortly, but she wants to remain involved in community work, and hopes to stay active in politics over the long term, she says. She likes the opportunity to give back to a town that has given her so much, she says, but "I also don't want the work I do in the community to affect my family - Peter (my husband) and Jak (my son) and the new little one will always be number one."

Of her contributions, listening "to other peoples opinions, others points of view, other sides of stories," has been the greatest contribution, she says. "Listening to find out what's the problem, then saying "Okay, what's the solution? What do you think? What would you like to see happen?" is so important. If people feel they're being heard they're more likely to get involved."